Les ponts de Toko-Ri (1954)

Fredric March: Rear Adm. George Tarrant

Photos 

Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Where do we get such men? They leave this ship and they do their job. Then they must find this speck lost somewhere on the sea. When they find it they have to land on its pitching deck. Where do we get such men?

  Man on loudspeaker : Launch jets!

• RAdm. George Tarrant : - Turn right 90 degrees.

  Cmdr. Wayne Lee : - Aye, aye, sir. Round Table, this is Jehovah. Turn right, zero-three-five. Stand by. Execute.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : Son, whatever progress this world has made, it's always been because of the efforts and the sacrifices of a few.

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : I was one of the few, Admiral, at New Guinea, Leyte, Okinawa. Why does it have to be me again?

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Nobody ever knows why he gets the dirty job. And this is a dirty job.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : Militarily, this war is a tragedy.

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : I think we ought to pull out.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : That's rubbish, son, and you know it. If we did, they'd take Japan, Indochina, the Philippines. Where would you have us make our stand, the Mississippi?

• RAdm. George Tarrant : Those helicopter boys are pretty good fishermen.

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : As far as I'm concerned, they deserve every medal in the book. You're out there all by yourself. You know you can't last very long. You're scared and you're freezing. You curse and you pray. Then suddenly you see that Mixmaster whirling at you out of nowhere. And you look up and there's Forney and his green hat. Then you relax 'cause you know you got it knocked.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : One of these days we'll knock out those bridges at Toko-Ri.

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : Do we have to knock out those particular bridges?

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Yes, we must. I believe without question some morning, communist generals and commissars will be holding a meeting to discuss the future of the war. A messenger will run in and tell them, "They've knocked out even the bridges at Toko-Ri." That little mission will convince them that we'll never stop, never weaken in our purpose. And that's the day they'll quit.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : War's no place for women.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : All through history, men have had to fight the wrong war in the wrong place, but that's the one they're stuck with.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : How did she and the children get here without your help?

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : Her father used to be a Senator from Massachusetts.

• Lt. Harry Brubaker : They didn't keep you in Tokyo too long.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : No, they don't anymore. Not since that first press conference. I told them we were fighting Russian guns, Russian radar, Russian planes, and Russian submarines. A lot of our men are being killed by Russian equipment manned by Russian experts. Ever since then, they bundle me out here as fast as possible.

• Lt. Harry Brubaker : Admiral, this is Mrs. Brubaker, Nancy.

  Nancy Brubaker : How do you do?

  RAdm. George Tarrant : I thought your husband was going to take off like a jet when he heard you were here, Mrs. Brubaker, and now I understand why.

  Nancy Brubaker : Why thank you, Admiral. I was kind of pleased to see him too.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : If you refuse to acknowledge what you're up against, terrible consequences can follow.

• Nancy Brubaker : Oh, Admiral, I'm so ashamed.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Don't be! Just be grateful for what you have. And above all, be honest with yourself.

• Beer Barrel : You know your husband's at war, but - somehow you just can't believe that he'd crash into the sea.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Hasn't Harry told you anything about what he's been doing?

  Beer Barrel : He never talks about the war.

• RAdm. George Tarrant : When we go back to sea, he's got a tough one ahead of him. He's going to have to fly against some - certain bridges. Ask him to tell you about them, Nancy.

  Beer Barrel : I don't even want to think about it. I suppose to you it's a sign of weakness, isn't it?

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Maybe not weakness. But like most people at home, you've been protected. You're ignorant and defenseless.

• Beer Barrel : Harry doesn't want me to worry.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : That's the way my son, George, felt. Harry often reminds me of him. Same quick temper and the same thorough way of doing things. As a matter of fact, in certain ways, you remind me a little of George's wife.

  Beer Barrel : She didn't want to think about it either, is that it?

  RAdm. George Tarrant : When George was killed at Midway, she never recovered. For a while, she tried to make love with every man in uniform.

• Lt. Harry Brubaker : Hon, there's been some trouble in Tokyo.

  Beer Barrel : Oh, Harry.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : What kind of trouble?

  Lt. Harry Brubaker : Uh, it's Mike Forney again, sir.

  RAdm. George Tarrant : Uh-oh.